


Shed a Tear for a Tear

by thatonebookworm



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Light Angst, Major Character Injury, My First AO3 Post, Season-Ending Injury, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25612267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatonebookworm/pseuds/thatonebookworm
Summary: Hinata Shouyou's worst fear is having to stop playing volleyball, the sport which he so dearly loves. When Hinata is hurt and has to stop playing volleyball while he recovers, he has to face this fear.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Karasuno Volleyball Club, Hinata Shouyou & Nekoma Volleyball Club, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 2
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Haikyuu!! fanfiction and it also doubles as my application for participation in a the development team for a Haikyuu Otomé game. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my work!

Volleyball shoes squeaked on the linoleum floor of the gymnasium, and the pounding sound of volleyballs hitting the ground resounded through the building. Karasuno had just taken the first set in a practice match against Nekoma High. The score had been close, but Hinata and Kageyama had pulled through with a freak quick at the very end. 

Hinata had just been subbed out for Yamaguchi to come serve and was antsy to get back into the game. He stood next to Suga in the warm-up zone and was lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet to keep his muscles loose. 

“Eager to get back into the game, aren’t you?” Suga asked, already knowing that the answer would be yes. 

Hinata shot Suga a grin and returned his attention to the game. He let out a cheer when Yamaguchi scored a service ace on Nekoma, but Hinata’s attention was only partially on Karasuno’s number 12. He had recently taken to watching the opposing team’s libero during games, and his eyes were instead trained on Nekoma’s libero, Yaku.

The orange-haired middle blocker knew that his receives were not his strength, but since the technique he had learned as a ball boy during the training camp, he was craving improvement more than ever. He was specifically focusing on Yaku’s footwork and the way that the libero shifted his feet prior to chasing after the ball. It seemed almost as if he knew where the ball was going to go. It was very similar to what he had seen the players at training camp do. 

Hinata’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud cheer from the Nekoma team. He had been so focused that he hadn’t realized that Kuroo had managed to receive Yamaguchi’s serve. Hinata watched the ball as Kuroo got it to Kenma and Kenma set the ball to Yamamoto who proceeded to slam it down to the ground, completely avoiding Yamaguchi and Tsukishima’s block. The Nekoma volleyball team was certainly a force to be reckoned with. 

As Hinata walked back on to the court, he locked eyes with Kageyama. Hinata couldn’t quite tell what the look had been meaning to convey. 

“Lev has been getting a lot better with his basics,” Daichi mentioned. “He might give Hinata a bit of trouble now.”

Hinata realized what Kageyama’s intense gaze meant now. Hinata needed to step up his game. “I can outrun him,” he said confidently.

Kageyama looked satisfied with this response. “That won’t be needed. I have an idea,” he said, with an arrogant undertone to his voice. He pulled Hinata over and whispered a plan into his ear. “The rest of you, just get the ball to me. Hinata and I will score as many points as possible with this new plan.”

Tanaka grumbled at being told what to do by an underclassman, but like the rest of the team, he complied with Kageyama’s request. 

Hinata grinned. This was going to be fun. 

It was Yamamoto’s serve for Nekoma, and once the whistle blew, he did a normal overhand serve--something Nishinoya had no trouble getting into the air. 

Usually, Hinata would start moving slightly prior to the ball getting to Kageyama, but with the new plan, Hinata was to start moving as soon as Noya received the ball. Karasuno’s number 10 did just that, first dashing to the left side of the court, jumping as if to hit the ball, and then quickly sprinting to the other side of the court to do the same. Normally, he would spike the ball here, however according to Kageyama’s plan, Hinata was to again run to the left side of the court. 

Upon his arrival, Hinata put extra power into his jump. The idea was that by now, the blockers would’ve exhausted their jumping power, having attempted to block a spike twice in a row. With Hinata’s extra power, he would be able to have a clear shot to the ground, only having to navigate around the receivers. 

That was the plan. What actually happened when Hinata flew into the air was radically different.

When Hinata was building up power for his jump, his left knee buckled, throwing off his center of gravity. He knew he should’ve stopped his jump, but he needed to keep going. Needed to score the point. Needed to see over the blockers. He was still off balance when he reached the peak of his jump. Kageyama sent the ball to him and while he hit it with ease, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it felt wrong. 

When he hit the ground, his right leg hit first, ramming into the ground with the full force of Hinata’s body. A loud pop echoed through the gym, silencing the players from both teams. Hinata’s leg gave out from under him and he collapsed to the ground. The volleyball bounced a few times and then was still. There was a moment of complete quiet and still before Daichi rushed over to Hinata, Kageyama and the others following closely behind. 

“You okay, Hinata?” Daichi asked, offering him a hand. 

“I’ll be fine,” Hinata replied. He took Daichi’s hand and started standing up. “Just gotta--” He cut off his speech with a hiss of pain. “Shit. That hurts,” he said once he had returned to the ground. 

“Hinata! Dumbass! What did you do?” Kageyama yelled.

Tsukishima snorted. “The shrimp is probably just sick of your tyranny, King.”

“Not the time, Tsukishima,” Daichi sniped and then turned his attention to the decoy sprawled out on the floor. “Hinata, you don’t normally curse. It must be hurting pretty bad then. Can you stand up?”

Hinata shook his head no. “Is it swelling already? I feel like its swelling already.” 

Hinata’s voice was tinged with pain, panic, and fear as he swung his injured leg around for the third year to see. It was indeed swelling and had reached about twice the size of his other knee in just the few moments after the injury. It was also starting to bruise, splotches of blue and purple decorating Hinata’s almost volleyball-sized knee.  
It was around this time that Coach Ukai, as well as Suga, Kuroo, and Kenma came over to see what was wrong. 

“Everyone! Give Hinata some space!” Ukai yelled. He knelt down to talk to Hinata. “Do you need me to carry you to the infirmary, or can you make it there with the help of a teammate?”

“I think I can make it there with help,” Hinata replied. 

“Kageyama! Help Hinata get to the infirmary! Everyone else, Nekoma included, grab a ball and work on drills!”

With that, Ukai went back to supervising the practice while Kageyama and Hinata hobbled to the infirmary.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
That night, the Hinata family loaded their eldest son into the car and drove to the emergency room. His dad helped him get into the waiting room where a staff member grabbed a wheelchair for him to use. 

During Hinata’s examination, the doctor looked fairly concerned. Hinata, already worried about his injury preventing him from finishing the game, began to worry that his injury might be more severe than he had thought. When the doctor ordered an MRI of Hinata’s knee, the orange-haired athlete started to panic. What if he wasn’t able to play volleyball again? What if he never got to feel the sting a perfect spike leaves on his palm? What if he wasn’t able to see over the wall of blockers that guards the ground from the ball? What if he was never able to put the things he had learned about receiving to practice? What if he was never able to become the next Little Giant?  
These thoughts plagued Hinata up until the doctor sat Hinata and his family down in the examination room. 

“Hinata has torn his ACL fairly severely, but it is nothing that cannot be fixed with medical intervention and time,” the doctor said. 

Hinata perked up at this. Could it be fixed? Maybe he could still play volleyball!

“Define ‘medical intervention,’” Hinata’s father said, slightly concerned.

“We will need Hinata to come in for surgery during our next opening, which is next Monday. Eight days from now. Will that work?”

“Surgery?!” Hinata yelped. “Does that mean I can’t play volleyball?”

“The surgery takes around nine months to recover from, however we recommend that athletes refrain from returning to sports for about 12 months post-op.”

Hinata’s eyes darkened and what remained of his smile faded. A year without volleyball? He wasn’t sure if he could do it. But if he didn’t, then he might never be able to play volleyball ever again, and that idea scared him more than anything else in the world.


	2. Chapter 2

That night, Hinata didn’t get a wink of sleep.

Once he heard that he would have to take a break from volleyball, he retreated into his head and started zoning out. The last thing he remembered the doctor saying was the name of his surgery, ACL reconstruction surgery.

When he had arrived back home, he started to ice his injured knee and his mind started to wander. 

Will my knee ever be the same? He thought, with said knee starting to go numb from the ice’s cold. Even if it is, I will be a year behind the others in skill. Kageyama will be leagues ahead of me, and Yamaguchi and Tsukishima will be better than me as well.

Hinata’s brooding thoughts continued until around midnight, when he finally decided to bite the bullet and turn to Dr. Google for information. He hobbled over to his mom’s computer and typed into the search bar: “Will I have a full recovery after an ACL tear?”

Hinata closed his eyes while the webpage loaded and after a few seconds, debated whether or not he truly wanted to see the answer. Relenting to his curiosity, Hinata opened his eyes. 

The webpage read, “More than 90% of ACL reconstruction surgery patients are able to attain a complete recovery.” Upon reading this, Hinata felt a rush of relief flow through his body. He could go back to playing volleyball and jumping around as soon as he healed. 

Hinata continued to research the topic, becoming increasingly aware that, while he could go back to volleyball, it would be a long and painful road before he got there. By the time Hinata closed the numerous tabs he had opened, the sun was peeking out from behind the trees in the horizon. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hinata was stressed and exhausted at school that day. Stressed because he didn’t know how the team would react to the news of his injury and surgery, and exhausted because he had stayed up all night researching the physical therapy that he would need after the operation. 

The only benefit of this injury, Hinata realized, was that the teachers took pity on him and assigned him slightly less homework than usual. 

The day passed as usual with no uncommon occurrences. Next, Hinata had to face the hard part: telling the other players. 

Hinata started to make the long trek to the volleyball gym, made even more difficult by the knee brace and crutches the doctor had given him to use. As he approached the gym, he heard the sound of volleyballs making impact with the ground. Usually Hinata would get excited at this sound, but now it just brought more of his attention to his swollen, injured leg. He wouldn’t be able to spike a ball for a whole year. He paused before going inside the gym, staring at the closed gym door. Hinata’s eyes started to fill with tears as the reality of his situation sunk in. A whole year. He wouldn’t get to play at Nationals, when he worked so hard to go. He wouldn’t get to be on the court with his teammates, and even if he sat on the bench, it wouldn’t feel the same. He would never play another game with the third year students, they would be long gone by the time his leg healed. 

The next time he would be able to play, he would be a third year. He wouldn’t get to play the season of his second year, and he would never get to play with the current second years ever again either. When he returned to playing, it would be to a completely different Karasuno. 

Hinata wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt. He hadn’t even realized that tears had escaped his eyes and were streaming down his cheeks. 

Hinata was about to move to open the door when he felt a hand firmly grasp his shoulder. Hinata whipped around and was nose-to-chest with Coach Ukai. 

“You alright, Hinata? Your mom emailed me about what the doctor said,” he said in a nurturing tone. 

Hinata blinked the tears out of his eyes and looked up to face Coach Ukai.

“I’ll be okay,” he lied. 

Ukai shook his head. “I’m sorry, kiddo. You're tough, though. I’m sure you can come back from this.”

Hinata forced a smile at this. “I hope so,”

“Well, why don’t you go in and tell the others? I need to talk to Takeda about thanking Nekoma for yesterday’s match.”

Hinata nodded and complied, pushing open the gym doors. The door made a loud creak, drawing the attention of the rest of Karasuno. The players went silent and stared at Hinata, first at his face, red from crying, and then at his leg. Yachi made a small gasp and covered her mouth, looking embarrassed. Suga was the first to speak up. 

“Hinata, are you ok? What did the doctor tell you?” he asked, his voice wavering with concern.

Hinata forced a smile back onto his face for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day. “I’ll be fine. I’m getting surgery next Monday to repair my ACL.”

Kageyama spoke next. “And after the surgery? Then what?”

“Then…” Hinata’s smile fell. “I can’t come back to volleyball for 12 months while I do physical therapy.”

At this, there were more gasps from Yachi and Yamaguchi. The rest of the players had an expression of pity on their faces, but Kageyama looked furious. However, it didn’t seem to be directed at Hinata. In fact, it seemed like it was directed at himself.

“If I hadn’t suggested that new plan, your knee would be okay! We might’ve lost to Nekoma, but we wouldn’t have lost you!”

“Kageyama, this isn’t your fault,” Hinata said. “If we are placing blame, it would be my fault because I pushed myself too hard.” The orange-haired boy turned to the rest of his team and bowed very deeply. “I am very sorry that I was careless and got injured right before Nationals! I am sorry that I will not be able to continue playing with all of you for longer!” 

“You don’t need to be sorry, Hinata. Accidents like this happen to everyone, and sometimes they just happen at extremely inconvenient times,” Daichi said. Murmurs of agreement could be heard from the other players. 

Hinata muttered a thanks and made his way to the bench to sit down. His functioning leg had been getting very tired from bearing all his weight for so long. 

Watching his teammates practice like normal was painful for Hinata. He was longing to be on the court with them, but he knew that he couldn’t. 

Midway through practice, Coach Ukai tossed Hinata a volleyball. “If you can’t run around, this is the perfect time to practice your overhand receives!” 

Hinata caught the ball and shot Coach Ukai a smile. “Okay!” He said. If he couldn’t play volleyball, he could at least do volleyball drills. 

The rest of practice proceeded this way, with Hinata doing random stationary drills while the rest of the team ran laps, did diving drills, and played scrimmages. 

At the end of practice, Hinata made his way to where he always parked his bike. It took him arriving there and searching for his absent bicycle to remember that he couldn’t ride his bike anyways. His dad was going to be picking him up. 

Hinata trudged back to the front of the school where his dad was waiting and hauled himself into the car. It had been a long and emotional day, and Hinata was ready to go home and go to bed. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next six days proceeded in a similar fashion, until it was Sunday, the day before Hinata’s surgery. The day had, so far, been uneventful and Hinata was making plans to cook a large dinner. He had been instructed not to eat after midnight before his surgery, so he had to make sure that he ate enough to keep his appetite satiated until the surgery was over the next day. 

Hinata had decided to make soba noodles, and just as he was about to cook them, he heard his doorbell ring. And then again. And again. Whoever was at the door started to rapidly hit the doorbell. 

Hinata opened the door and poked his head out to see Tanaka and Nishinoya rapidly ringing the doorbell. Behind them stood the rest of the Karasuno volleyball team. Asahi stood the furthest in the back and was carrying some sort of a large box. 

“Hey, guys!” Hinata said to the team. “What are you doing here?”

“We’ve all been working together to make a get-well gift box for you!” Daichi explained. “We all wanted to drop it off together.”

“That’s so cool!” Hinata replied, enthusiastically. “Do you guys want to come in?”

“Sure!” Nishinoya butted in. 

Hinata opened the door and the team walked inside the house and clustered inside the kitchen. 

“Something smells good!” Daichi commented. 

“Thanks! I’m making noodles!”

Daichi had a longing expression on his face that made it seem like he wanted some of the noodles. 

Suga also seemed to have caught on. “Daichi,” he chided. “We are only here to drop off the box, not to steal Hinata’s dinner.” 

“Right, right. I forgot, sorry.” He responded. “Well, it was nice seeing you, Hinata. We all wish you good luck for tomorrow’s surgery and we hope that everything goes well!”

With that, Suga and Daichi ushered the rest of Karasuno outside. Asahi placed the box on the kitchen table and joined them, but for some reason, Kageyama stayed behind. 

“Hinata, don’t be a dumbass and hurt your knee again after the surgery. I don’t know how the team is going to handle a year without you, but I’m sure we will figure something out.” On that final note, Kageyama left to join the others. 

“Wow, it almost seemed like Kageyama cared about me? That’s weird. I guess he isn’t as powerful without me, though. After all, he can only do one half of the freak quick,” Hinata thought aloud. Hinata pushed away the sadness that thinking of volleyball brought and closed the front door. 

Ignoring the dinner that he had yet to finish cooking, Hinata turned his attention to the box. It was fairly large, about the size of a microwave, and was taped shut with gray duct tape. He grabbed one end of the tape and tore it off, opening the box. 

Inside the box was a plethora of things, each with a small label attached. Hinata picked up a stuffed dinosaur that was labeled with ‘Tsukishima.’

“It probably means that Tsukishima got me this! It’s certainly in-character for him!” Hinata commented. He placed the plush on the ground and once again looked inside the box. There was a milk carton from Kageyama, a cool t-shirt from Nishinoya, a book titled ‘The History of Volleyball’ from Asahi, a framed picture of the team from Daichi, Karasuno school colors of highlighters from Yachi, a dictionary of cuss words from Tanaka, a stuffed crow from Yamaguchi, a card saying that it contained money (which contained monopoly money instead of actual currency) from Suga, and a ‘Get Well Soon’ balloon from Kiyoko. After carefully examining each of the gifts, Hinata looked into the box one final time and saw a deflated volleyball with the names of each and every Karasuno team member written on it. Hinata grinned, and then his stomach proceeded to growl. 

“Yikes! Better finish cooking dinner!” He yelped, dashing to the stovetop as fast as a kid on crutches could. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night, Hinata slept well, with the knowledge that whatever happened during the surgery and during his recovery afterwards, his volleyball family would be there for him every step of the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading my work! Please leave comments and kudos if you like what I am doing and would like to read more!


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